My concern with "Money" is that it's written comparatively densely and
reinforces the idea that money is a weighty subject. Local currency
seeks to demystify money-- to make it clear that average people can
comprehend and control it.

You need just four pages to say about money what needs emphasizing:

1) control of money decides who does well and who goes without.

2) control of money lending decides who gets to fix their house or
start a new business.

3) federal money, controlled by big banks, is part of a game by which
the rich get richer and the poor fall farther behind. Therefore,

4) to make sure that communities have enough money to start new
businesses and support nonprofit groups, communities need to print
their own.

Tom takes 200 pages to say that. This does not inspire common folk that
we can take control of money. Straight talk in simple language is
essential to empower the grassroots.

Moreover he presumes, in 16 pages, to provide a "manual" of local
currency, though he participated in a 200-member system in a major
city. There's a big difference between studying money and making it
work, by trial and error. Theory and practice must walk together daily.

Notwithstanding,
in six pages Tom lectures Ithaca HOURS on how to make local currency
"better."

His
FIRST prescription is the requirement that, for someone to receive
their first payment of HOURS, they must pledge to return them to the
system when they cease participation. This is not enforceable, is
legalistic rather than generous, and merely discourages people from
enrolling

Whoever first accepts an HOUR for goods or services is
the person who gives it proven value. There is no need to deflate the
money supply to discipline the person to whom the HOURS were issued.

His SECOND suggestion is merely aggravating, since Ithaca has already
pioneered the process of making HOUR loans, since 1993, and would have
issued far more loans had it the staff required.

His THIRD
suggestion is already in place. The HOUR system caps the HOURS issued
for system operation, and accepts HOURS for advertising in comparable
quantity it issues to itself.

His FOURTH suggestion is that any
HOUR grants be "underwritten" or backed by community donors. This
misses the point of local currency--

1) we are expanding the money supply rather than merely shuffling money
around.
2)
we are backing local money with local goods and services, rather than
by federal reserve notes which are themselves backed by $6 trillion of
national debt. That is, we consider HOURS to be real money, while Greco
calls HOURS "unfunded" because they are not backed by federal dollars.

If you're interested in joining this exciting movement, there are
better sources of inspiration.
Glover is founder of Ithaca HOURS.